Runnin' With the Devil, Cancer and Life's a Beach

We left Creel and headed toward Batopolis, another day of twists and turns through amazing canyons and vistas. We turned around when the asphalt ended since we would have to return this way anyway. We stopped in a dusty little town called Guachochi for the night and walked around the center of town listening to a mariachi band playing for some sort of candidate campaign. We left in the morning for Durango and stopped at the first hotel that we found. For $8.00, we got what we paid for. It was kind of sketchy, think flophouse, but we were beat and Ipulled the bike into the lobby for the night. Everything was still there in the morning and we didn't get gnawed on by bedbugs or see any cockroaches so it was worth the $8.00. Driving in Mexico has it's own hazards, such as dogs, horses, cows, burros and all sorts of other things roaming around freely. We have seen several smilin' horses and other assorted animals. The road from Durango to Mazatlan, is known as the Devil's Backbone. This is on my list as one of the most scenic twisty fantastic motorcycle riding roads that I have been on. Thanks Cesar, for telling us about it. Comparable to The Tail of the Dragon on the NC/Tenn border, the Dragon is more technical for riding skills, but Runnin' the Devils Backbone is probably fifty miles longer and 1000 times more scenic. This road is tie with the road in Glacier NP on up through the Canadian Rockies to Jasper NP. As for Cancer, that's just a reference to us crossing the Tropic of Cancer on this same road to Mazatlan. We were sitting in the shade trying to figure out our next move, when a pickup truck pulls up with Washington plates on it. After some discussion, George tells us to follow him. He takes us through the mango groves and we pull into this town called Chametla. This was his mothers home town and he and his sisters inherited her hacienda. He winters down here every year and was happy to be able to have a conversation in English for a change. Anyway he sets us up in the local hotel and proceeds to rollout the red carpet and give us the grand tour. We go to a couple of places to eat, first it was oysters on the riverbank where they were dugout of the beds, I had mine grilled as well as some raw. We saved a little room for the next place, fresh ceviche that was made with either fish, squid, crab or shrimp. Judy had the shrimp I had the crab as we always eat half and switch no matter what we get. We also sampled the fish ceviche. George had the squid. This topped off the belly so he takes us for a ride out the back of town through mango groves and in a matter of five or ten minutes we're dippin' our toes in the Pacific. Life's a Beach ain't it?!! George is wearing the white shirt/black shorts the other two guys sell the oysters. The sign is in pesos. 12 =$1 roughly Enjoy the photos Adios